Cruel Fate
by AFatefulAccident
Summary: They dated for 6 years before she cheated on him. Now they meet again for Marissa's wedding and read what ensues...SS...Angsty


A/N…K, so I wrote this forever ago, and its been sitting on my computer, so I finally decided to stick it up here to see how ya'll like it. It should be continued, but I have a problem with commitment so I probably won't unless I get some reviews…Its really angsty, but I LOVE Seth and Summer so if I continue it, it will eventually be them. If anyone's reading my other stories…I'm having a sort of writers block…the next time I try to write a story I'm going to need to get a partner or something, to keep my writing..lol…anyways, here ya go.

Disclaimer: Don't own the OC…plain and simple

* * *

Fate has a cruel sense of humor. Summer had realized that 5 years ago, and she was once again reminded of it today. Fate had made her fall for Seth Cohen, the resident Emo-geek at Harborside High, in their sophomore year of high school. Fate had kept them together, more or less, for 6 years until their senior year of college. Fate had made Seth walk in on her and his roommate sleeping together in the first and only time Summer had ever been unfaithful. Fate had offered Seth a job in New York a month later, thereby getting rid of any chance for Summer to convince him to take her back. Now, 5 years later, Fate had made sure that they would both be back in Newport again for Marissa's wedding. So of course, they were bound to run into each other, seeing as there wasn't much to do in Newport if you were over the age of 18.

They ran into each other at the mall. Or rather, she ran into him but didn't let him see her. She was looking for something to wear to Marissa's engagement party; he seemed to be just meandering around, killing time. At first she didn't recognize him. He was dressed in a suit like the ones he used to hate wearing to all the events his mother held, his hair was more under control than Summer had ever seen before, like he had actually spent time taming it and making sure his Jew fro wouldn't frizz or become limp, and he was more built up, less like a string bean.

_He's grown up. _

She made all these assumptions from behind, following him through the mall far enough away to be able to duck into a store if he turned around, but close enough to still scrutinize him. He didn't turn around though. He kept his eyes ahead of him or looking at the floor. He seemed so much older to Summer. Even his walk was different, more mature. They hadn't seen or talked to each other in over 5 years, yet Summer had never been able to get him out of her head. He was her first love, her only love. He was the guy that restored her faith in love and the opposite sex, she was the girl who destroyed his trust in people in general. She hadn't had a serious relationship with a guy since him; most guys disappointed her.

After about an hour of following Seth around the mall, Summer was thoroughly confused. He would walk into toy stores and the Gap, not the kind of stores she pictured him shopping at after seeing him. She finally decided she'd seen enough and went back to Marissa's apartment, where she was staying for the month.

When she walked in, Marissa was on the phone with her fiancée, Eric Santos.

"K, I'll talk to you later. Summer just walked in…Yea, I love you too. Bye"

She hung up the phone and turned to her best friend.

"So how was the mall? Find anything cute to wear to the party?"

Summer nodded absently. She had completely forgotten why she had gone to the mall in the first place.

"So I saw Seth"

Summer was never one to dance around a topic.

Marissa frowned.

"Really? Was he…did you just see him…I mean, was he alone?"

Now it was Summer's turn to frown.

"What do you mean? Coop, does Seth have a girlfriend? Is he…oh god, he's married isn't he?"

"He's married and lives in a cute little mansion with a dog and a kid and a beautiful wife who always has dinner ready when he gets home and who is never unfaithful and who cares about him a lot and…"

She had to sit down, had to be alone, had to sort out why she was feeling like this. It was Seth's prerogative to get married. He wasn't her boyfriend; she didn't have any claim over him.

_And yet…_

All these thoughts passed through Summer's mind in the time between her comment and looking up to see Marissa shaking her head.

"He's not married."

"He's not."

It was more of a statement than a question. He wasn't married. She let the relief sink in for a minute, refusing to ask herself why she was feeling relief, before turning back to Marissa.

"So…why wouldn't he be alone?"

Marissa glanced around, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

"It's uh…it's not for me to say. You can talk to Seth tonight at the party. Ask him."

* * *

And that's all Marissa would say on the matter. About an hour later, both girls went to their rooms to get dressed and ready to go to the Cohen's house, where the party was being held.

"Okay, so explain to me again why we're having the party at the Cohen's, seeing as how they are the adoptive parents of your ex."

Marissa sighed as she got into the driver's side of her blue bug convertible.

"Since my parents got back together and moved to the Bahamas, and Eric's family isn't around, we didn't have another house to have it at. Plus, we didn't want to have it at some restaurant or something. So the Cohens were nice enough to offer their place for the night."

Summer sighed.

"Of course the party is held at the one place I am guaranteed to run into Seth. Fate showing its sense of humor again."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, just drive Coop."

By the time they arrived, the party was already in full swing. Marissa was immediately swept up by her fiancée and Mrs. Cooper to talk about the wedding, leaving Summer alone. She looked around, trying to decide if she was happy or disappointed that she didn't see the Jew fro anywhere.

She sighed. Might as well go get a drink.

She had just gotten her hands on her Grey Goose Martini when someone tapped her on the back. Assuming it was Marissa, she smiled.

"Your mom already on your ner…"

Her sentence drifted off at the sight of Seth Cohen standing behind her.

"Hey"

His smile was just the same. Boyish and cute, disarming in a way that made you feel at ease but also wasn't saying he immediately wanted to get in your pants. A smile that few guys could pull off.

"Hey" she breathed, "I didn't see you here."

"Yeah," he nodded, "I was upstairs. Did you just get here?"

"Mm-hm. I came with Marissa, but she got drug off as soon as we came in the door."

He laughed, the same laugh he had all those years ago.

"Yeah, everyone has been wedding-crazy since she announced she was engaged. Even my mom's been swept up in the fever. And Eric's a great guy, if Marissa couldn't marry Ryan, I'm glad it's him who won our homecoming queen's heart."

Summer nodded. Marissa and Ryan had split soon after high school, but stayed friends. Ryan was now married to a sweet woman named Nicole and had a baby on the way. They were coming up later that month for the wedding.

"So what's up with you?"

The question was simple enough, but Summer wasn't sure what to say. She could lie and tell him she was dating an Abercrombie model, was making it big in the fashion industry, and never gave them a second thought. Or she could tell him the truth.

"I'm doing well. I'm working as an assistant to a new fashion designer in L.A., and I'm enjoying just being free, no commitments."

So a half truth wasn't as good as the whole truth, but it was better than flat-out lying.

He smiled that smile again.

_Oh God…_

"That's good Summer. I'm really happy for you"

And the way he said it made Summer believe him. Which made the pain that had risen in her chest since she started talking to him grow even stronger.

She took a big breath.

_Don't be stupid Summer…Act normal._

"So what about you? Anything new?"

Seth gave her an appraising look before taking a deep breath.

"Well, as a matter of fact…"

_This is it. Finally the big secret will be revealed._

But before Seth could finish talking, his dad appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Seth"

Seth looked up as his father motioned to him. He nodded.

"Coming"

He looked at Summer once more.

"Come with me."

With that, he grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs.

Trying to ignore the butterflies she had felt when Seth had taken her hand, Summer followed Seth up the stairs and down the hall to what had been the guest room.

Once outside the door, Seth began to shift uncomfortably and let go of her hand. After about a minute of this behavior, he finally seemed to come to a decision.

"So, um…yeah. I'll just show you."

And without any more preparation, Seth opened the door.

* * *

At first Summer didn't get it. She thought the Cohens had just repainted their guest room and that was what Seth was showing her. Then she saw the crib and the toys strewn on the floor.

But it wasn't until Seth had bent down over the crib and turned around that it really hit her. There, sitting in Seth's arms, was a curly brown haired, blue eyed baby girl.

"Oh my God"

"Summer, this is my daughter Ashton."

Summer couldn't focus on anything except the deep blue eyes that were staring, half-open, at her. The toddler had to have been maybe 2 years old, her dark curls, so much like her father's, were mused with sleep.

_Her father's…Seth's a father._

_Seth._

She finally met his eyes. He gave her a quizzical look.

"Sum, are you okay?"

"I…Marissa told me…"

She threw a quick glance at his left hand.

"So you aren't married?"

_Stupid Stupid Summer. Seth shows you his daughter, and the only thing you can think to ask is if he's married._

But Seth seemed to understand. He laughed lightly and shook his head as he sat Ashton down on the floor next to a stuffed bear.

"No, me and Ash's mom were dating when she got pregnant. We had met at a fashion show, she was a model and I was invited to the show by a business friend. About a month later, she got pregnant. She stuck around long enough to have the baby before disappearing to Milan or something…She wasn't cut out for motherhood."

He threw her a half smile.

"That was almost 2 years ago. She sent one letter, telling me that she had lost all her pregnancy fat and was back in modeling. She didn't even ask how Ash was. I haven't heard from her since."

Summer nodded distractedly, all her attention on the little girl at their feet. The child was beautiful, and Summer wasn't just saying that because she was Seth's daughter. Her dark brown ringlets, so perfect they looked fake, ringed her face and her dark blue eyes. Her skin was darker than Seth's, a more olive color, and her lips were puckered up in concentration as she tried to fit a block into a circular hole.

"She's beautiful."

The smile he gave her now was one she hadn't seen since their senior year of college. He was truly happy.

"Thanks. She's lucky. Her mom had a Spanish mother and a polish father. She looks exactly like her mom, minus the crazy curls. Her mom's hair was straight as a pin. She won't need to go to those tanning beds or spend hours on the beach like you used to do to get tan. I'm envious."

Summer smiled as Seth picked the girl up gently and put her on his hip.

"Ready to go downstairs and see everybody?"

The little girl nodded and layed her head on her father's shoulder.

Summer smiled as she followed them out of the room.

"I'll um….I'll meet you down there…I need to use the little girls room."

Seth nodded, his back to her.

"Cya down there."

As soon as he had turned the corner, she dashed into the first room on her left and closed the door, trying to hold back sobs. It wasn't until she was in there that she realized that it was Seth's room.

She remembered how many times they had come in here to seek safe haven from one of his mother's many parties or just to have some alone time. It seemed smaller to her now, half the stuff had gone with them to college, then with Seth to New York. All that was left was a bookcase half full with the few comics Summer had convinced Seth to leave behind when they had gone to USC, his bed with its blue comforter, and a few posters of bands long out of style. Summer went and sat on the bed, going over the last 5 minutes in her head. Seth had a daughter. A beautiful daughter with an undoubtedly beautiful model. And while Summer was awed by the little girl that had Seth's heart, she couldn't help but wish the girl had a different mother. A mother who would have stuck with Seth through anything. She wished Ashton's mother had been herself.

_Don't be stupid Summer. You had your chance to be the mother of that girl 5 years ago, and you blew it just because you and Seth were having a little disagreement. Seth deserves to be happy._

_I just wish he would be happy with me._

She sighed. Seth would start looking for her soon. She better just go ahead and return to the party. She stopped by the bathroom on the way down and tried to clean up her make-up. Her mascara had started to run and her hair was a mess, but she didn't really care. She made herself just presentable enough for people to not be able to figure out she had spent the last 10 minutes crying, then headed downstairs. She saw Seth's head above the crowd, glancing around, presumably, for Summer. But right then, Summer didn't feel like talking to Seth. He made her too sad and angry with herself. So instead she turned and headed out to the pool house.

* * *

_Stupid idea._

Summer thought 5 minutes later when Seth walked in the door, this time without his daughter in tow.

"Where's Ashton?"

She couldn't bear to say daughter out loud, it made it too real.

"She's hanging out with Marissa and Eric. I never thought Marissa would be good with kids, but Ash loves her."

Summer nodded. This was too hard.

"So…" Seth started, sitting on the bed next to her, but leaving a few feet between their bodies, "Why did you disappear? We never really got to talk about…everything…"

Summer frowned.

"Everything? You mean like the fact that you have a daughter that you never told me about, or that you disappeared a month after our breakup and I had no idea where you were until I asked your mother, and then all she would tell me is that you got a job opportunity in New York and were fine."

The tears prickled at the back of her eyes, but she refused to cry. Not in front of him. Not right now.

Now it was Seth's turn to frown.

"First about my daughter, how did you expect me to tell you? We haven't talked in 5 years Summer. For all I knew, you had married Bill or some other guy and had a family of your own. I didn't even know if you would want to know about Ash."

Bill had been Seth's roommate, the guy he had found with Summer. She had liked Bill, he was nice enough and really cute, but he was no Seth. Bill was a one-night stand kind of guy, the type who seem like a good idea when it's dark and no one can see you, but as soon as you wake up, you know it was a mistake. And as for other guys and a family, she had only ever imagined a dark, curly haired Jewish family.

"And as for me leaving…Summer, you cheated on me. Not the other way around. I walked in on you and Bill sleeping together in my dorm, and you expected me to just say, 'hey, its okay, Bill's a friend, I don't care that he slept with my girlfriend.' I couldn't do that Sum, and you know it. It really hurt me that you would do that, I loved you for crying out loud, I loved you more than anything."

Summer looked up at Seth now. He didn't look like that mature, strong man she had seen in the mall earlier, he didn't look like the caring father she had seen just an hour earlier, no, he looked like the guy who had stood on a coffee cart and proclaimed his love to her when they were 16. He looked like the guy who had remembered her 'I want to be a mermaid' poem from 3rd grade. He looked like the guy she had fallen for, and had yet to stop.

"Seth, I know I made a mistake, a stupid stupid mistake that I'm still paying for today. But do you ever think that maybe if you hadn't left, if you had given me a chance to explain, things would be different?"

He sighed and lifted his eyes to meet hers.

"How Summer? How would you have explained sleeping with one of my closest friends? Would you have said it was a stupid mistake, like you are now? Would you have told me you were upset about our fight and got drunk and didn't think? I already knew that. It wouldn't have changed anything. It was over between us the minute you decided to throw all of this", he gestured between them with his hand, "away and kiss my roommate."

A look of horror suddenly crossed Summer's face.

Seth opened his mouth to continue his rant when Marissa came into the pool house with Ashton in her arms.

"See, there's daddy…and…oh gosh, I didn't interrupt anything did I?"

Summer was too stunned at the recent revelation to do anything, so it was Seth that stood up and shook his head.

"Nope…we were just catching up. Is it time for the toasts?"

Marissa nodded, her eyes still on Summer.

"If you'll take Ashton inside…" She handed the girl to Seth, "I'm going to talk to Sum for a minute."

Seth gave a little half smile as he hoisted Ashton onto his shoulders and bent down to get out the door.

"Enjoy your girl talk."

Once the door was closed behind him, Marissa turned to Summer.

"Sum I am so sorry. I know I should have told you about Ash, but Seth made me promise…"

Summer shook her head.

"It's not that. Its just…how could I have been so stupid? Me and Seth…we…I…god!

Marissa shook her head. She remembered having this same talk with Summer the day after she slept with Bill. Summer had been even worse off then, so wracked with grief and self-pity that Marissa couldn't console her. She had gotten better with time, but Marissa had always suspected she still loved Seth a lot. Seeing her best friend here now, 5 years after Seth had broken her heart, she finally understood how much.

Summer couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and as they spilled down her cheeks and onto her new dress, Marissa wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Oh Sum, its okay…It was a mistake. Everyone makes them."

"It doesn't matter that it was a mistake. Seth was my boyfriend, the man I loved, and just because we had a stupid fight about a stupid thing, doesn't mean I should have cheated on him. And now he's a father and happy and doesn't need me at all in his life. He can date models and run a company and move on, while I'm stuck in the past. I guess its my punishment for what I did, giving up such a great guy. I now have to watch as he raises a daughter who should have been mine and eventually marry a woman who should have been me…"

Summer was shaking with sobs now and Marissa just held her as she shook.

"Hush babe, its okay. Seth is just a guy. I know you feel like he's the only one for you, but he's not. Look at me and Ryan. We are both so happy with our partners, even though they aren't each other."

"Coop, you and Ryan were so dysfunctional, I don't think anyone thought you would last forever. Even you."

Marissa gave her a sad smile.

"I guess you're right, but the same goes for you and Seth, right? I mean, you never pictured yourself marrying him and having his kids did you? You guys were so different…"

She was shaking her head.

"I had already named our kids. We were different, yeah, but we worked. We would still be working, but…"

Marissa stuck her hand over Summer's mouth.

"No. No more crying over something that happened 5 years ago and you can't change. I won't let you tear yourself up over this. Self pity is so not becoming."

Summer smiled slightly.

"Sorry to make this party such a downer. This is your night. Lets go have fun."

And with that both girls got up and walked out the door to join the party.

* * *

There ya go, Hope ya'll liked it…review! 


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